undeadfanstoriesfandomcom-20200214-history
Stranded/Episode 1
This is the first episode of Stranded, entitled, Numb. Episode 1; Numb October 29th, 2014 ---- A young blonde man, seventeen years old with bright blue eyes stands still in the middle of a bedroom, rubbing his eyes tiredly with his pale forearms. Dressed in a bright blue long-sleeved shirt, tight black jeans, and a light purple beanie to top it off, he was almost ready for another dull day at school. He still had a half-hour before the bus to take him to school got here, but he knew where that that time was going. Slowly wandering out of his room, the young man slowly stepped into the hallway. He slowly inched forward, passing a variety of wall decorations ranging from family pictures to small banners with quotes, his favorite being, “It does not matter where you go in life, but who you have beside you”. At the end of the hallway was his destination; a pink door. He sighed before knocking on the door. “Sis? Sis it’s time to go to school.” No answer. “I’m coming in, sis.” With that warning, he twists the doorknob, and peeks into the room. It was another bedroom, but instead of his that featured red paint and sport posters, this one was covered in bright pink paint, and the walls were covered in photos. And, in the back corner of the room, was the bed. At first glance, the bed would appear to be inhabited, but the young man knew better. Casually walking to the bed, it’s not until right before he reaches it that he sees the top of a head. He casually sits on the side of the bed, staring down at the light brown hair that flows out from underneath the covers. “Miri,” he continued, while pulling the blanket off of her face, revealing her slightly-open hazel eyes and pale face. “You can’t miss school again…” No response. The man repeats her name, but again gets no response. He sighs, before repeating her name for a third time, lightly poking her face as he does so. “Ken, stop.” she suddenly mumbles, her eyes slowly closing again. “Just let me sleep for five more minutes…” “Don’t you have a chem test today?” he asked, poking her pale cheek again, to which his sister, Miranda, slaps his hand away very spastically. She opened her mouth to speak again, but before she could say anything, her brother spoke. “And I don’t want to hear any excuses.” Miranda yawned, before pulling her limp arms out from under the blanket and rubbing her tired eyes. “Fine, Kenton.” she mumbled, sitting up, but keeping herself wrapped in her warm and fuzzy pink blanket. Leaning up against her wall, and staring rather blankly at her brother who sits there watching her movements. “Can you please get out now?” Kenton warmly smiled at his sister, before getting off of her bed. “Of course. I’ll be waiting for you, don’t keep me waiting too long, will ya?.” She yawns again. “Sure, whatever, just get out Kenton.” Miranda mumbled. With that, Kenton begins to make his way back to the bedroom door. ---- It was a rather cool morning, just cold enough that if you didn’t have a sweatshirt you’d be regretting your apparel, but warm enough that it wasn’t completely horrendous to be outside. But, for Miranda, whom sported a light green tanktop and salmon jeans (along with a polaroid camera hanging around her neck, attached to a rather husky strap), was definitely feeling the effects of the cold. She slowly walked down the empty street, both hands of hers sitting in her pockets gently. Miri herself wasn’t quite sure what she was doing, she didn’t have her bookbag with her today, and while she was strongly considering cutting today, she knew if Kenton found out she’d never hear the end of it. But then again, the lake is supposedly really pretty this time of year -- she could always go and take some pictures. In the distance, she could very well hear a truck coming her way, but it didn’t necessarily matter; well, not to her anyways. “Miranda~!” she suddenly heard a voice call out to her. She recognized it instantly. It was enthusiastic, rather high-pitched, and loud. Fuck. She slowly turned around, and saw a boy her age, trotting forward to her. He had hair down to his neck, wore a dark green sweatshirt and a pair of black sweatpants. With a black backpack hanging off his right shoulder, he put his arm up to wave to Miranda, who slowly put hers up as well. In the background, Miranda could still see the black truck slowly driving in her direction. “Not going to school today, Miranda?” the boy asked as he reached her, taking note of her lack of bookbag. She silently shook her head at him. “Sorry, Tyler.” she mumbled. Why did it have to be him of all people? Tyler stood next to Miranda, putting his hand on her shoulder. “C’mon now, and why aren’t you going today?” Miranda stays silent. She doesn’t really know why she’s not going, just that she’s not. Who is gonna miss her anyways? It’s not like anyone’s going to notice her absence... At that moment, the black truck that had been slowly driving in their direction reaches them, but oddly enough it stops when it gets next to them. Both Tyler and Miranda fail to notice it immediately, only when a deep voice calls out to them. “Yo guys!” Like they were synchronized, Miranda and Tyler turn their heads to the car where they’re greeted by the smiling face of a young man, tan skin, black spiky hair. “Heyy Oliver~” Tyler charismatically exclaimed, releasing Miranda’s shoulder and going to greet the man at the driver’s window. Practically shoving his entire head through the window, it’s then that Tyler notices the red-headed girl with large glasses sits, and he enthusiastically waves at her as well. “Hey Jordy!” “Please don’t call me that, Ty.” she monotonously said, before waving at Tyler. “You need a ride to school?” Tyler pauses, smiling at both Oliver and the red-headed passenger Jordana, before turning back to Miranda, who was watching silently from where Tyler left her. She scratched the back of her head, yawning as she did so. Please just go with them… Tyler turned back to Oliver and Jordana, still smiling, before jerking his head backwards to Miranda. “Sorry, gotta make sure the youngin’ gets to school.” Youngin'? We're the same age... “The ride applies to her as well.” Oliver warmly smiled, looking past Tyler’s head to Miranda himself. “Miranda, you plannin’ on skipping today?” Miranda sighed to herself. Of course he knows, too. He knows everything, doesn’t he? Miranda’s reputation around school wasn’t the best; not having friends was bad enough, but when word got out that she was skipping most days now...it’s not a surprise that Oliver, her brother’s friend, would know it too… “I’ll just walk…” she mumbled to herself. “...I’ll be fine, thanks though.” “Are you sure?” Oliver called to her. “Y’know, I’m gonna have to mention this to Kenton later, right?” Miranda looked to the ground sheepishly. Oliver knew her well enough to know that she was considering it...after all, that was her weak spot -- Kenton. “C’mon, it’s freezing out, Miranda.” he continued. “You’ll catch a cold...please?” Jordana from the passenger seat sighed to herself. She slowly moved her hand to the car radio, before slowly twisting the knob as Oliver continued to talk to Miranda. Of course, what else would be playing other than Team by Lorde? “I love this song…” Tyler whispered to himself, turning to Jordana who smiled at him. “So, you comin’?” Oliver asked again, to which Miranda shrugged her shoulders again. “...I guess.” she mumbled. Only because you’re so goddamn persistent… As Oliver’s grin grew with victory, he turned up the car stereo as Team faded out, and as Tyler opened up the car door, Back to Black by Amy Winehouse came in. Tyler held the door open for Miranda, who slowly climbed into the backseat, rubbing her arms. As much as she would have rathered walking, she couldn’t deny that the car’s heater felt really nice on her exposed arms. Tyler hopped in next to her, taking the seat directly next to her, closing the door behind him. Directly after that, Oliver put his foot on the gas and they were off again. “Aren’t ya glad I ran into you?” he whispered, putting his hand back on Miranda’s shoulder, who absent-mindedly nodded her head. “You cold?” Yes. “No,” she whispered. “I’ve been through worse.” Tyler laughed loudly, before taking his hand off of Miranda’s shoulder. “You’re such a horrible liar, look at you, you’re shivering.” Slowly Tyler brought his hand to his sweatshirt zipper, and immediately began pulling it down. “Tyler, no…” she whispered, but it was too late; before she could muster out the words to stop him, Tyler had already began pulling his sweatshirt off. She sighed as Tyler got it completely off, handing it to Miranda in the process. “...thanks.” she whispered. “Aren’t you going to be cold now, Ty?” Oliver asked from the front seat. Tyler shook his head. “I have an extra one in my locker, I can pick it up before class starts.” he smiled, looking at Miranda who silently looked at Oliver. Shit. Have they been watching us the entire time? Oliver shrugged his shoulders. “If you say so…” he trailed off, letting the words float in the air for a few seconds. “...by the way, you two look like you would make such a cute couple.” Jordana couldn’t help but giggle from the passenger seat as Tyler put his head on Miranda’s shoulder. “You think so~?” he asked, before looking up at Miranda’s face which was turning a shade of bright red. “Don’t you think so, Miranda?” Miranda couldn’t say anything -- she didn’t know what to say she was just too embarrassed. She turned her head away from everyone so they couldn’t see her bright red face; but it was too late. “Look, she’s blushing!” Oliver chuckled from the driver’s seat. “I bet she thinks so too! Ty, why not give her a little kiss right now?” Tyler giggled, putting his arm around Miranda, shaking her shoulders. “Miranda, I’m sorry...my heart doesn’t belong to you though.” he smiled, looking back up at Jordana and Oliver. “However, if I really that mean that much to you~” “Please, stop.” Miranda awkwardly mumbled, keeping her face hidden from everyone else in the car. “She doesn’t handle pressure very well, Ty.” Jordana very bluntly and rather seriously reminded Tyler, who continued to shake Miranda’s shoulders. “I’d just stop.” Please listen to her… “Fine.” he giggled, releasing his grip from Miranda’s shoulders, and pulling out his cell phone. “I’ll text Kenton and tell him I got you~” Wait. “Did he tell you to pick me up?” Miranda suddenly asked, looking up at Tyler’s gleaming face. “Yup!” Tyler exclaimed, who looked back up at Miranda. “I bet he knew you were thinking about cutting again cause he called me early this morning to make sure you went to school today.” “Make sure you say we contributed.” Oliver reminded, smiling to Jordana, who sits next to him, adjusting her big, black glasses. “If it wasn’t for us you wouldn’t have gotten her to go.” “Yeah, yeah…” Tyler mumbled to himself. Miranda sighed to herself as she put on Tyler’s sweatshirt. They tricked me...how did I not see this coming? I normally have a better eye for this kind of stuff… “By the way Miranda, I won’t tell anyone.” Jordana said from the passenger seat, turning back to look at her. Miranda curiously looked back at Jordana. “Tell anyone what?” she quietly asked. “That you have a crush on Ty over here.” Jordana answered, giving her two thumbs up, as the boys both laughed to themselves. Miranda didn’t laugh though, instead she embarrassedly turned her head away from the others. As her face grew redder and redder, the laughs amongst the other three grew louder and louder. This is why I don’t talk to these guys anymore. The only reason they enjoy having my around, if they do enjoy having me around, is so that they can laugh at my expense. Why do they hate me? ---- After departing from Oliver, Jordana, and Tyler, and going inside of their high school, Young Mt. High. Miranda disappeared within the large crowd of students who were attempting to go to their first period class. Young Mt. High School, located just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, is regarded as one of North Carolina’s top high schools. With just over one thousand students populating this school, and with some of the best teachers on the market, it’s no surprise that most who graduate from Young Mt. High normally are able to go to whatever university they wish. However, for people like Miranda, who don’t do well in school, who are alone in this school, who regards each student as part of their “family”, Young Mt. High is nothing but a prison -- a very discriminatory prison. Upon reaching her mathematics classroom, with her head down, hands seeking shelter inside of Tyler’s sweatshirt he lent her, she briskly walks to the back corner of the classroom, right next to the window. Miranda quickly took the strap that was around her neck -- the one attached to her polaroid camera -- and put it directly in front of her. Looking up from it, Miranda’s gaze went around the almost-empty classroom taking note of every little detail she can pick up. There’s a crack in the ceiling -- around two inches off from the third light from the left. The desk directly next to mine has a drawing of our teacher, Mr. Nidai on it...why’d they make him look so husky? Charlie’s wearing the same shirt for the third day in a row. A white t-shirt with black Japanese lettering...I have no idea what they mean. Before she even realizes, the seat in front of her is taken, and her camera is snatched off of her desk. What the fuck…? Miranda desperately reaches out for it, and just before it’s out of reach, she grabs hold of the end of the strap. The person who grabbed hold of it, feeling the slight resistance that is Miranda’s hand, turns back to look at Miranda. She’s blonde, tan, very beautiful -- even Miranda will admit that -- and has big, blue eyes. She sports a leather jacket, with a bright pink shirt underneath it. “What are you doing, Jerri?” Miranda quietly mumbled. “That’s my camera.” “How else was I gonna get your attention you dyke?” she retorted, flaring her nostrils at Miranda, before letting go of the camera, to which Miranda immediately pulls it to her chest. “Seriously, are you gay?” How obnoxious… ...why does she have to do it right before class? People are gonna start looking over here… “Hey, dyke? Are you even listening to me?” Jerri continued, and with the attention she was drawing, Miranda started to feel all eyes in the classroom move in their direction. “Are you fucking deaf?” “Stop.” Miranda shakily mumbled, turning her head away from the blonde girl. “Just leave me alone.” Miranda looked up from her camera, not to look at the one who was trying to cut her down, but to the other people who were in the classroom. She just wanted someone to come and save her… ...but quickly scanning across all of the students who were in the classroom at the time, although there were a couple of sympathetic faces out there (belonging to two girls whom Miranda recognized as Rachel & Emma, two other victims of Jerri’s bullying), most of the people in the classroom were laughing to themselves. The girls were giggling, the guys were trying their best not burst out laughing. She knew that most people -- if not everyone -- didn’t like her, so she wasn’t really hurt by anyone laughing at her...until she locked eyes with a rather tall boy. He stood in front of the classroom, arms crosses, short brown hair with brown eyes. Sporting a black sports jacket, his crooked smile and his lack of ability to hide the fact that he was laughing, hit Miranda -- hard. The insults couldn’t hurt her...the smiles and the joy on the faces of her peers couldn’t hurt her...but, him? Why is she letting him get to her? He’s doing what everyone else is doing...why can’t she just brush him off? “Are you going to cry, faggot?” Jerri continued, giggling as she turned to her friend who sat beside her. Miranda hadn’t noticed it herself, but after hearing Jerri’s comment, she immediately brought her hand to her eye to find that it was indeed wet. She hadn’t even noticed she started crying. Jumping out of her desk, she speedily picked up her polaroid camera, and hurried in the direction of the door. Her feet were as light as feathers, and as she passed Rachel, one of the two who weren’t laughing at her, the girl reached out to grab Miranda’s arm, but just like that, Miranda was out of reach, and she was through the door. As if on cue, the second she stepped into the hallway, the room exploded with laughter -- with of course, a few exceptions -- and Miranda heard it all. Why can’t I just fit in? What does everyone have against me? I can handle being alone… ...why can’t they just leave me be? ---- Young Mt. High’s cafeteria is rather bland, compared to the rest of the school.. Plain yellow walls littered with anti-bullying and acceptance texts, with dark tan tiles on the floor. The tables were long; they were long and rectangular, fitting seven people per side, and they too were a dark tan. In the center-most table however sat a group of six, in that group include Oliver, whose attire matches what he previously wore in his car -- a white sweatshirt and long jeans -- Jordana, who wore a black shirt and was currently using them to clean her glasses, and Jerri. Jordana sat directly next to Oliver, and after putting her glasses on the table in front of her, she put her head right in between Oliver’s head and right shoulder. Jordana was admittedly very tired, and Oliver (despite being very uncomfortable with public affection), offered his shoulder as a pillow for his beautiful girlfriend. Across from him was Jerri, who Oliver wasn’t very fond of in general -- he always thought she was very self-centered, and kind of a bitch -- and Jerri’s best friend, Jenny (well, at least that’s what Oliver thinks her name is). Between paying attention to Jordana’s needs and the conversation that was taking place of him, he could only gather bits and pieces of what the two girls were talking about. “Yeah, she started crying...I know, right? Fuckin’ baby...I swear to God she’s a lesbian, everything about Miranda just screams it…” “Miranda…?” Oliver murmured to himself. There were two Miranda’s in Young Mt. High he knew of; Miranda Giles and...Miranda Henderson. No, it couldn’t be Kenton’s sister they’re talking about, could it? “Yeah, Miranda Henderson, you know her?” Jerri asked, smirking at Oliver, who just stared back at her. “I don’t know her that well, why?” he lied, yawning. “What happened?” “She fucking cried during first period.” Jerri harshly whispered, leaning in as if to add emphasis to her statement. “The faggot started to cry…” “Really?” Oliver asked, scratching the back of his neck, accidentally bumping his shoulder into Jordana’s neck, which in return makes her lift her head very spastically. “Yeah,” Jerri continued, her smirk growing wider. “One of my greater accomplishments.” Oliver sighed, stretching out his shoulders as he did so. Truth be told, he was sick to his stomach as Jerri started telling him what happened earlier that morning. He was just with her this morning, she looked happy...why did Jerri have to hurt Miranda? Upon hearing the whole story, Oliver took that as his cue to leave the table. He had to go find Miranda...part of him wants to do it for Kenton, his friend, but more importantly he needs to go make sure Miranda was okay. “And where are you going?” Jerri asked as Oliver stood up from his seat. “The library.” Oliver yawned, looking from Jerri to Jordana. “Need to finish up an essay for Mr. Mars.” “Well, enjoy yourself.” Jerri said, before diving straight into another conversation with the girl next to her. Jordana too stood up, before slowly putting her face close to Oliver’s. “Liar.” she whispered. “Find her.” Oliver pulled his head back and smiled at Jordana, before giving her a quick peck on the lips. “Love you, babe.” he whispered. “Yeah, yeah,” she mumbled, before planting a kiss on his cheek. “Go.” ---- The school’s courtyard was a nice, peaceful area. There were plants everywhere, a large variety of them too. Nature really shines in this small area, and the best part for Miranda was that it was completely secluded from the rest of the school -- only students who were in a honor’s art class got access to use it for sketches or photography. While Miranda at that moment wasn’t necessarily doing either of those things, she was just happy that her teacher was letting her stay there for the rest of the day. She lied down on the bench that was located directly in the middle of the courtyard staring at the sky. She just couldn’t stop thinking about him. He was laughing at her. Why couldn’t she take the event from first period off of her mind? It was frustrating, she honestly felt like she could breakdown at any moment… It was then that a voice suddenly called out to her. “Found you.” Miranda looked to her left, and there stood Oliver, who had a warm smile on his face. “How can I help you?” she asked, looking back up the sky. “I heard about what happened…” he said, stretching his arms out. “...I’m sorry that she made you feel like that.” “Are you?” Miranda quietly asked. “Are you?” “Of course I am!” he said, before walking to her. “If I had heard about it earlier I would’ve came earlier.” Upon reaching her, Oliver immediately got down on one knee so that he was eye-to-eye with Miranda. “Can I ask you something?” Miranda asked, turning her head back toward him. “Why are you here? You don’t like me. Is it for my brother? So you can say that you tried to help me?” Just leave me alone… “It’s because I care.” he said. His voice was genuine, there was no doubt about that, but Miranda didn’t want to believe him. After everything, she couldn't. “I mean, we all used to be such good friends…” “''Used to''.” Miranda interrupted -- Oliver could see the tears starting to well up in the corner of her eyes. “Key word there. After Mack and I broke up you and everyone else ignored me for years.” “It wasn’t like that.” Oliver said, not once breaking eye-contact with her. “And, even if he doesn’t act like it, he still has feelings for you…” “Then why, when Jerri was being a bitch to me did he laugh at me as I cried? Why did he get so much pleasure out of watching me suffer?” she cried -- and the tears started flooding out of her eyes like waterfalls. “Leave me alone.” Fuck, get ahold of yourself, Miranda. Don’t let him see you like this. “It’s okay, Miranda.” Oliver said before grabbing hold of Miranda’s free hand. She initially jerks it backwards, but Oliver refused to let go. “You can cry, y’know? I’m here to listen…” “Fuck off.” she suddenly screamed, before getting off the bench, and breaking herself free from Oliver’s grasp. “Don’t...talk to me. Jerri’s your friend. I bet you’re going to fucking tell her everything.” Stay. Away. From. Me. He wanted to call out for her. He wanted to chase after her and make her tell him what was wrong -- but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to admit it, but she had a point. If he was there, would he have stopped it? If there were other people around, would he have been able to try and make her feel better; or would he have ignored her? He’d like to assume he would’ve helped her, but...he really had no idea, and it killed him. ---- Kenton… ...I feel empty. Those were the thoughts that echoed through Miranda’s mind as she lies in her bedroom later that evening, clutching onto a pink teddy bear. She’d be lying if she said that today wasn’t hard on her. She can normally take the verbal abuse, but the look on his face, on Mack’s face. Smiling, holding back his laughter with all of his might -- it made him look like he was about to pop. Miranda wished she could hate him...but she just couldn’t. She cared about him too much still. There was a knock on her door. It was light, just loud enough to pull her out of her thoughts for a split-second. “Who is it?” she mumbled. She knew she wasn’t loud enough for whoever was on the outside of the door to hear her, but she couldn’t force her voice to go any louder. Please be Kenton… The door creaked as it slowly opened, and much to her surprise (and disappointment), it was not her brother, but instead a red-headed girl’s head is seen slowly emerging from behind the door. Jordana? “You decent?” Jordana asked as she slowly made her way into the pink bedroom. Miranda nodded, before forcing herself to sit up in her bed. Miranda silently watched Jordana as she approached the bed -- studying her face. Miranda always had a good eye, and, just from one quick glance at Jordana’s face, Miranda could paint a whole story: Kenton most likely gave her a key to check on me, since he does have practice today. She most likely doesn’t want to be here -- she does look sincere, but also like she’s walking on eggshells. I bet she feels really awkward right now. It’s not like she even cares about me anymore. Jordana took a seat on the bed next to Miranda, sighing to herself before opening her mouth. “Are you feeling any better?” she asked, looking from Miranda’s pale arm to her eyes, before quickly looking away. “I heard about what happened…” “Of course you did.” Miranda mumbled, looking up to her white, smooth ceiling. “Who hasn’t at this point?” “You honestly need to suck it up, okay?” Jordana spat out. As blunt as ever… “I know Jerri’s a bitch, and I know Mack was being a total cunt, but honestly this is what they want, okay? They want you to feel weak and they want you to be hurt... so just fuckin’ suck it up.” Jordana looked back up at Miranda, and once again made eye contact with her, but instead of looking away, she locked eyes with Miranda. “Okay?” Miranda only could nod her head. Jordana did have a point, and as much as Miranda wanted to find words to refute what Jordana had just told her -- she couldn’t. Jordana chuckled to herself. “I feel like we’ve had this conversation before.” Probably. We used to be really close… “Yeah,” Miranda mumbled, before forcing a smile. “I think I know what you’re trying to say. Thanks.” Jordana nodded. “Do you still have my number?” she asked, rising from the bed. “I think so…” Miranda mumbled, releasing the grip on her teddy bear, watching Jordana stretch out her back and shoulders as she rose. “...thanks.” Jordana shrugged her shoulders. “Oliver and I will be back tomorrow to pick you up for school, so be ready.” “That’ not necess--” “Fine.” Jordana cut her off. “But if I don’t see you in gym again, I’m having Oliver pick you up for the rest of the year, and he’ll drag you right out of your bed and carry you to his car.” Miranda sighed. How can I get out of this...? “Well, I sleep naked so--” “I don’t care.” Jordana cut her off again, a malicious smile slowly forming. “Oliver hasn’t once seen me naked, so this could be his only chance to see a young, beautiful girl in the nude…” Really? “Okay, okay, I get it...I’ll go.” Miranda mumbled, rolling her eyes as she said so. Jordana’s vicious and flirtatious smiled disappeared as Miranda agreed. “See ya tomorrow, Miranda.” Jordana said, before leaving Miranda’s room, shutting the door behind her. “Yeah,” Miranda whispered to herself. “...thank you.” God, I do miss her… ...not just her, everyone… ...but I can’t go back to them… ...not anymore. ---- Category:Stranded Category:Stranded Episodes Category:Issues